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Peavey Millennium Preamp Upgrade - Step by Step!

#42
Hi guys,

Could any of you mates do me a favour? I have Made in USA Cirrus 5 (Walnut/Wenge/Gold Hardware) here in tiny little, cold, country called Finland :smug: . I tried to order these parts through Peavey Support but with no success. Damn. They won't deliever parts straight to non-US customers. Damn again. Could any of you order these parts for yourself and send them to me? I'm willing to pay in advantage if you want. I just want that Millenium Pre Amp for my Cirrus 5. :hyper: Please, let me know if you can do this valuable favour for me. Here are the part numbers:

Preamp part # 99099040 - $51.64
Knobs - Shiny Gold
Top - 75025043 $3.98
Bottom - 75025044 $4.14
Dome x 4 - 75025045 $4.73

Respectfully,

Ari-Pekka Laukkanen
Finland
 
#43
Please let me know if you get one of these pre's, AaPee. I have talked with Steve at Peavey in person and someone on the phone at Peavey this morning, and they both told me that there were no more USA Millennium preamps available! I am looking for one, also. I hope one shows up, I have a gig at the end of March and was wanting to make the change before then.
 
#44
Landsharks said:
Please let me know if you get one of these pre's, AaPee. I have talked with Steve at Peavey in person and someone on the phone at Peavey this morning, and they both told me that there were no more USA Millennium preamps available! I am looking for one, also. I hope one shows up, I have a gig at the end of March and was wanting to make the change before then.
Click to expand...

Landsharks,

That was really a bad news for me as well :hmm: Hopefully, two sets pops up for us... :help: Happy hunting mate!

Regards,

Ari-Pekka
 
#46
If you call Peavey, they should be able to sell you the knobs without having the part #s. Though, thinking about it, I think I did post earlier in this thread with those part #s, if you want to go look.

Also, in semi-related news, my understanding is that Peavey has the Mill preamp back in stock now.
 
#47
Also, in semi-related news, my understanding is that Peavey has the Mill preamp back in stock now
Click to expand...

I confirm they have some in stock now, with still the same price. Part numer has not changed.

And GOOD NEWS: I am ordering one by email with credit card info and it was ok for the sales rep. (I live in Canada)...which they would not allow before: they only made phone sales. Shipping cost is about 5$.

I will let you know of delivery time and if it is the same board. I can compare it to an old Cirrus USA 6-string one friend has. I will put mine in a Cirrus BXP 5-string.

TS, thanks for all the details and photo, this was great. Also, for those interested in trying to build this in a stompbox case, I have detailed photos of the boards and took all cap/res/parts values. That was my original idea, but since the preamp alone is so cheap and now available again, I could not do one myself cheaper. So I still suggest you buy one if you are interested.
 
#48
Antoje said:
Also, for those interested in trying to build this in a stompbox case, I have detailed photos of the boards and took all cap/res/parts values. That was my original idea, but since the preamp alone is so cheap and now available again, I could not do one myself cheaper. So I still suggest you buy one if you are interested.
Click to expand...

Glad you scored one.

Are you talking about building a stompbox with a Millennium preamp in it, so that you could use it with any bass?

That's an interesting idea and surely should not be hard to do, since the board already has all the pots soldered to it. Seems like you would just desolder the Blend pot and remove it, then drill holes in the stomp box top in the right pattern for the 4 knobs that are left on the board, throw a 9V battery in there, and wire it up to an input and output.
 
#49
Okay, so the Preamp and stacked knobs have arrived:
Preamp part # 99099040 - $51.64
Knobs - Shiny Gold
Top - 75025043 $3.98
Bottom - 75025044 $4.14

About 20$ for custom/border fees.

All components are the same as the 10 years old board I borrowed from a friend (Cirrus 6-string USA) and inspected. I will try it as a 9V stompbox and do a schematic of the board for those interested.
 
#50
Antoje said:
Okay, so the Preamp and stacked knobs have arrived:

Preamp part # 99099040 - $51.64

Knobs - Shiny Gold

Top - 75025043 $3.98

Bottom - 75025044 $4.14



About 20$ for custom/border fees.



All components are the same as the 10 years old board I borrowed from a friend (Cirrus 6-string USA) and inspected. I will try it as a 9V stompbox and do a schematic of the board for those interested.
Click to expand...


Antoje - did you order directly from Peavey Parts dept? I inquired today but they seriously didn't sound like they knew what I was talking about. I sent pictures and part numbers that were discussed here and the final email was that I needed to order through my local peavey dealer. I think at this point they were tired of dealing with me.
 
#51
socoo said:
Antoje - did you order directly from Peavey Parts dept? I inquired today but they seriously didn't sound like they knew what I was talking about. I sent pictures and part numbers that were discussed here and the final email was that I needed to order through my local peavey dealer. I think at this point they were tired of dealing with me.
Click to expand...

If you were emailing with them, I would highly recommend calling them instead. Ask for Steve, if you can get him.
 
#53
Antoje - did you order directly from Peavey Parts dept?
Click to expand...

I ordered from Parts Department (Shannon Lucas). She was very helpful in confirming all the part numbers, after I insisted those existed after a first denial. On their support web site, they say they do not accept sales by email and provide a US number. Maybe she did an exception for me because I live in Canada.

Bass installation tips: (Peavey Cirrus 5 string BXP)
It really is plug and play, but several things to pay attention:
  • Inside the cavity, the output jag lugs and the treble pot were almost in contact, I had to try several jack orientations.
  • The bridge wire for grounding needs to be replaced and soldered on the output jack. (it is too short and without coating)
  • The sweepable mid pot has a Ø3/8 shaft and needs drilling in the bass body. The original hole is too small by a little bit, a small wood file wood do it.
  • The pot shaft threads are not the same than the original pots. I was lucky and had a few spare nuts and washers. If you aren't lucky like me, you will need to order some from a guitar parts website. I have nothing to measure them and give their specs.
  • The bass cavity is THIGHT for all the wires and the board. I pushed hard and the PCB assembly slipped in its place scrapping some wood, but some may be not that lucky.
  • The hole of the bottom knob for the mid. freq. was too narrow for the pot. shaft. I had to drill it a little bit over Ø1/4

Pedal Assembly:
Prior installing the preamp in the bass, I tested it as a 18V stompbox with a passive 6-string Ursa (Fender Jazz bass copy by SX/rondomusic). It works quite well if you do these things:
  • Pedal jack INPUT: Remove the blend pot and solder the Jack INPUT to the innermost hole in the PCB (not the middle ones, not the ground ones)
  • Pedal OUTPUT jack: Solder it to the hole in the PCB linked to the middle lug of the volume pot.
  • Pedal GROUND: the battery negative hole in the board.

I might create a pedal myself with spare parts I have or by using the original 3Band G&B co Preamp.

Sound improvements:
I think the bass and treble controls before and after are approx. the same. The original mid was always at 5/10 and I found it unuseful. Now the sweep gives A LOT of variability to the bass. I can have punching sounds like a MusicMan Stingray (hard rock/metal style) or a Wal bass sound (think Justin Chancellor from Tool) by turning the mid freq at 8-9/10 and boosting the mids. I can also have an extended boosted bass frequency range, useful in a blues trio where I backup while the guitarist soloes.

My 400$CAD Made in Indonesia bass sounds a lot more like the 2000$ Made in USA bass my friend has with the Millenium preamp. With my musician experience, I would tell the only hearable difference is because he has a maple neck and I have a walnut neck. For those wondering where the 1600$ difference comes from: his bass is a 6 strings, has an awesome quilted mapple top, a glossy finish and harder fretwire.
 
#55
Well, I just ordered my mill pre through Peavey. I actually prefer the black rubber knobs so I kept that and added the stacked black metal knobs they offer. It should like alright, can always change later if desired. The awesome thing is that shipping through UPS Ground was free! So $56.95 total bazinga.

Preamp - $51.64
Bottom knob - $2.76
Top knob - $2.55
 
#56
socoo said:
Well, I just ordered my mill pre through Peavey. I actually prefer the black rubber knobs so I kept that and added the stacked black metal knobs they offer. It should like alright, can always change later if desired. The awesome thing is that shipping through UPS Ground was free! So $56.95 total bazinga.

Preamp - $51.64
Bottom knob - $2.76
Top knob - $2.55
Click to expand...

Its a fairly easy install and well worth it. Just pay attention to the original wires and locations in the PCB (maybe take a picture before you remove them.) A little heat goes a long way...ruined one board early on. You will have to break the mid control off the pcb and then screw it upright (unless they changed the design. I also had to run (per Peavey) an extra ground as mine was excessively noisy
 
#57
LightGroove said:
Its a fairly easy install and well worth it. Just pay attention to the original wires and locations in the PCB (maybe take a picture before you remove them.) A little heat goes a long way...ruined one board early on. You will have to break the mid control off the pcb and then screw it upright (unless they changed the design. I also had to run (per Peavey) an extra ground as mine was excessively noisy
Click to expand...


LightGroove, thank you for all the tips from experience here I appreciate it. Fortunately I have a steady hand with the iron so it shouldn't be too much of a headache for me. But, I won't hesitate to ask the board for help. I am looking forward to that mid range punch!
 
#59
Ok, just installed the mill pre and this was my experience:

1) the board looks very similar to past posts with only minor differences.

2) still had to break off the mid pot from the board, have to be real careful and take your time working it back forth and snipping the ends. Also still needs the screw to hold it in place

3) I ordered only the black bottom and top stacked pots to go along with my black rubber knobs I prefer. The bottom knob fit fine but the top knob didn't. I had to use a 1/8" drill bit to clean things out and eventfully slid in place.

4) Install was very straight forward, all wires went in the same spot. Just did things in groups and it helped there was plenty of slack wire available.

5) I did not have to add an extra ground to the mid housing. Don't know but the thing was quiet as could be touched everywhere.

6) I used a 3/8" drill bit on the bass for the mid pot hole and it fit perfectly. Fortunately, I had a nut and washer to fit from a previous CTS pot jazz bass project as no mounting hardware is included.

7) sound wise - this thing really does open up the mid range like crazy. I could get my modern gospel bass sound all the way to the pbass sound. We play a very wide range of genres for worship and it is very important to have a huge palette by the turn of a few knobs. I will really get to open it up at rehearsal tonight.

8) Peavey quoted me about $56 or so can't remember, but looked at my account and they actually charged $74 or so. Hmmm, hope this was a mistake... I will be calling them on that today.

Think that's it for now - thanks again for starting this topic.
 
#60
This may be an older thread but I have a question concerning this. I have a Made In China Millennium AC BXP and it has the circuitry that has no circuit board but the one encased in black plastic box and has a silver oval sticker on it with "Peavey pe. vfl. ms and under that is 7m 2008, which I assume is the manufacture date, July of 2008. Is there any difference between this set-up and the circuit board set-up. It has 2 pickups, which I assume are the Peavey design and the same ones on the Cirrus. I emailed Peavey support and they told me that the circuit was only for U.S.A. made Millennium's and would not fit the China made one. Which to me sounds like they don't want the American made on in the China one. Unless the pots don't line up right. But from the pictures above they look exactly like the same configuration and location. So is it worth it to try and get one made in the U.S.A.? thing is that the guy I bought it off of had tried to do a bit of wiring himself and I can't even get a diagram of even the China wiring. Has the Tiger Eye finish and I have it set up the way I like it and it feels great but I ain't plugging it in until I get the electronic circuits right.

Jerry
 

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